by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
One of the elements of the Better Jacksonville Plan was the renovation of the City’s sports and entertainment facilities. Improvements to Municipal Stadium, the Times-Union Center and the Osborn Center were much needed and reap benefits every time anyone buys a ticket to a game, concert or other event. The Baseball Grounds is a world-class facility that replaced the old Wolfson Park and events at the Equestrian Center, the only City-owned venue that’s not Downtown, attract horse fanciers from throughout the region.
As in many other municipalities, the City has chosen to contract with a private company to manage its venues. Philadelphia-based SMG manages Jacksonville’s venues, handling everything from selling tickets and marketing to sweeping the floors. The largest company of its type in the world, SMG manages more than 200 entertainment, sports and convention facilities in the U.S. and foreign countries. It was founded in 1977 with a single account: the Louisiana Superdome. In addition to Jacksonville’s venues, other SMG accounts include The Oakland Coliseum, Soldier Field in Chicago and Reliant Park in Houston.
Having so many venues under its management brings several advantages to municipalities that build entertainment facilities, said Hank Abate, SMG vice president of arenas.
“Everyone who works for SMG can call on our corporate resources and take advantage of the years of experience our staffs have,” he said.
In addition to supervising the day-to-day operations of the facilities, having SMG manage the venues also brings an edge when it comes to bringing the top-name tours and events to Jacksonville. Promoters and agents can schedule entire national and international tours at SMG venues and work with a single company. Abate said two recent examples are the Elton John and Billy Joel tour that played the Arena last year and last month’s Jimmy Buffett concert, which was the first stop on the singer’s new tour.
“We have established relationships that allow us to use leverage to bring events to Jacksonville,” he explained.
One of the challenges facing SMG is competition between Jacksonville and other Florida cities that have also built similar new arenas and concert halls. Abate said that’s where SMG’s long-term relationships with entertainers come in handy.
“There is no luck involved in attracting big-name acts that sell tickets,” he added. “Our job is to do what’s right for Jacksonville.”
The next big event coming to the Arena is the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament first and second rounds March 19-21. Abate said it’s his experience that the event is an economic driver for the host city.
“There will be eight teams, probably from out of this market, playing in Jacksonville. That means parents, fans and media filling up a lot of hotel rooms and eating in restaurants,” said Abate.
He also said that building the public facilities in the urban core isn’t unique to Jacksonville. Cities all over the country have discovered that downtown economic development can be accomplished by locating sports and entertainment venues in a city’s downtown.
“It’s true that ‘if you build it they will come.’ When there are more reasons to come Downtown, more people will come and they’ll discover other things to do while they’re here. It’s a way to stimulate the economy,” said Abate.
For a complete listing of events coming to Downtown venues, visit www.jaxevents.com.
356-2466